Agape Love Boutique In Home Show!

Many of you may have heard me mention my Agape Love Boutique "In Home Show" on facebook.

Well I am so excited to share with you all about it here on my blog!

It turned out fantastically! 

And though its something I really only planned on doing once, 

I ended up getting several requests for me to book more shows with others at their houses! :) 

So that its extremely exciting.

Anyways.. I took several pictures of the set up to share with you. 

I was SO busy last week stocking up on items for the show, and creating new exclusive items too.

I've since listed a few of the new items in my shop, but will have the rest of the new stuff up after the new year.

So I wrote out a little "speech" to say for my party, 

and while I was talking I had created a little slide show on my computer and had it hooked up to my TV for everyone to get a peek at the things I create before getting a chance to get up and actually check everything out! Here is my speech:

 Hello and welcome to my very first Agape Love Designs Show!
Thank you so much for coming, I am so excited to share with you about myself and what I do!

First I would like to say that I truly aspire to glorify God in all that I do. One of the ways I show that is in the name I go by: Agape Love Designs/ Agape Love Boutique.
I get asked a lot what "Agape" means.

The main reason I chose this name is because for ONE- Well it just sounds pretty!
TWO- the meaning is incredible to me!
THREE- I wanted people who knew what it meant to recognize that I was a Christian right away and know that I LOVE Jesus and I am not ashamed! Even with just a glance at my logo (the heart with a cross in it) You know my blog/shop is faith based. You see, I desire to Glorify God in all that I do, because after all He is the one who has blessed me with the talents that I have. So I want to give all the praise back to Him.
Along with that, I KNEW that there would be some people who didn't know what it meant and would ask! And what a wonderful opportunity it would give me to share God's love with someone who may not have known it otherwise? ;)

SO I have a very much LONG story as to how I got to where I am today and how this all started for me, which I am finishing up writing out. Once its done I will be adding it to my History Page, if you would like to read it, but for now I have a very condensed version for you...

I don't know if anyone knew this about me or not, but for a long time I felt like I didn't know my place in this world.. I felt like because I was "just" a stay at home mom I wasn't making a difference in this world.

But God has shown me that being a Mom IS just as important as any public figure or Pastor or Missionary or anyone else of importance. And I can still glorify Him by doing just what I was doing.. raising Kids in Him, to know Him and being a light to them! Even though I had accepted that and was happy with the stage I was in, in my life, I still had a longing to connect with other people. Which if you know me at all, you KNOW that's a God thing, because I am shy and most of the time prefer to be alone!

If you didn't already know, my husband is a retired Veteran. He was in the Army for 7 years and did two deployments to Iraq, each a year long. During The Hub's deployment to Iraq I had many nights I couldn't sleep. Because of the time difference the only time I could talk to him was around 1-3 am when he got a chance to call or yahoo chat. So to pass the time I would pray, read my bible, make package idea lists while waiting for his phone calls and I also often passed time online. It don't think I realized this at the time, but it was then that God also showed me how to use the talents he has blessed me with to reach out to people across the country and world even, right from MY HOME!

I started vlogging on youtube about dealing with deployment in an attempt to reach out to others going through the same thing I was. I started teaching myself about graphic design and found I had a passion for that. So I started designing Christian layouts and graphics for people on myspace. After designing on myspace for about 4 years I eventually I moved away  from that and got into blogging. I was just hoping to expand my horizon with digital design by starting a blog to share it on.
But from there I ended up getting more into doing crafts by hand. I have always loved arts & crafts, but never really had the opportunity to pursue them. After realizing this new passion for creating with my hands I finally decided to open a shop of my own and finally get paid to do what I love.

It was slow at first and I was mostly only making enough to cover supplies, which was great... at least I could support my hobby! haha But lately its been growing. And I have been able to do things that I have never been able to do before (well at least since being married) Like buying a special gift for my husband with my OWN money that I earned... not that he paid for himself. That seems like a little thing... but for me that is BIG! It has been such a blessing! And I am so excited that I get to share a little about it all with you today!

I really hope to encourage others who may feel the way I used to feel (wondering what they can do from home) that you can make a difference! Whether its being a good mommy, supportive wife, a light to friends or family, or writing an encouraging blog.. God can use YOU to bless hearts and change lives!

 After this, I was able to talk about my birds nest necklaces and what they mean.

I also talked about my Water of Life necklace and the charity that supports... 

and it was such a blessing, I sold one of each of those necklaces that night.

After I spoke about the special jewelry I make, I was able to show everyone how to access my blog, facebook and shop online! And then it was time for everyone to come check out my items! :)

This is how I had the table set up in my dining room. :)

Cameo Silhouette Necklace Display Tutorial here.

My gorgeous custom created "Avatar" by Saturated Canary.

Lots of headbands... and even a few for the Little Ones! :)

The adorable little clips with faces are called "Little Darlings" Clip Set, 

and they will be in the shop in January!

The Rosette Trio Headbands are a new item too! :)

You can find the Fall Colors one {here}.

Christmas Button Clip Sets can be found in my shop now {here} and {here}

Pottery Barn Inspired Tired Jewelry Holder Tutorial Here.

Find these rings in the jewelry section of my shop.

Lady Bug Clip Sets are new! :)

Lots of OLDer items here that I never listed, and a few new ones!

These ones are listed in the shop now:

Blue November

Pink Peace Love & Gingerbread

Red White Peace Love Gingerbread

Giant Bobby Pin Rosettes... these are NEW! :)

These will be coming to the shop in the new year.

Large Bronze Bow necklace is new! :)

A couple new necklaces here too. :)

It was so excited for everyone who came to my show to get an exclusive sneak peek at my new items!

All my Fun earrings!

So... I have this amazingly talented and wonderful friend, Kim!

Ive mentioned her before.

Anyways... she volunteered to help me set up for my party and make the food!

She is so sweet, and she did an amazing job!

Check out all the gorgeous tea lights she put all around... it really gave the house a great atmosphere!

The food.

She made these treats, and the "cupcake liners" are actually eatable CHOCOLATE!

She hand made them, and the chocolate moose inside them. :) 

They were delish!

Then she also whipped up these Tuna Wraps.

Tuna Wrap Recipe here.

I'm so thankful for a friend like her, she is such a blessing! :)

And I am just plain thankful to God for this fun journey I am on with all this. 

I am excited to plan more shows, and even more excited that people want to book them! 

Eeeppp! 

Have any of you ever held a home show for your etsy shop?

How did it turn out? Are you planning on doing more?

If you have never done one, have you considered it?

I definitely say go for it! 

Its a lot of work, but so fun, I promise! :)

Much Love & Hugs,

P.S. Im totally linking this up here: